Jermall Charlo


Jermall Charlo is an American professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC middleweight title since 2019 and the IBF junior middleweight title from 2015 to 2017. His identical twin brother, Jermell Charlo, is also a professional boxer and current world champion. As of April 2020, Jermall is ranked as the world's third best active middleweight by BoxRec, and fourth by The Ring magazine and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.

Early life and amateur career

Jermall is older than his identical twin Jermell by one minute. Both brothers are graduates of Alief Hastings High School in Houston, Texas. They began boxing when they started following their father, himself a former boxer, into the gym. As an amateur, Jermall was hopeful for a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team but was forced to back out due to a toe injury. He competed in the amateur ranks for one more year and finished with a record of 65 wins and 6 losses.

Professional career

Light middleweight

Early years

On August 12, 2008 Charlo made his professional debut against Cimmaron Davis and won the fight via 2nd-round technical knockout. On July 11, 2009 Charlo faced Deon Nash, the opponent his brother Jermell went up against and beat in 2008. Jermall won a comfortable unanimous decision victory and later fought Nash to a rematch on August 28, 2010 and Charlo would end up winning again by a corner retirement. On October 24, 2010 Charlo went up against Puerto Rican Carlos Garcia, whom his brother Jermell had fought a year prior. Both brothers beat Garcia by unanimous decision. Over the next five years, Charlo remained undefeated picking up wins over Orlando Lora, Antwone Smith and Norberto Gonzalez. By the close of 2014, Charlo had a record of 20 wins with 16 coming inside the distance and no losses.
On March 28, 2015 Charlo went up against a highly talented prospect, Michael Kenneth Finney at The Pearl, Palms Casino in Las Vegas. Charlo won all of the rounds on all 3 judges scorecards and won a unanimous decision victory. The fight nearly came to an end a few times during the fight, however Finney managed to take Charlo the distance for the fifth time in his career.

Charlo vs. Bundrage

In May 2015, 42 year old Cornelius Bundrage was ordered by the IBF to make a mandatory title defense against Charlo. July 25 was a potential date discussed initially. On June 8, a few weeks prior to the fight taking place, Bundrage was forced to pull out of the fight citing an injury above his left eye. The card, which was scheduled to July 18 was postponed. The deep cut happened during a sparring session. On August 17, it was confirmed the fight would take place at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut on September 12. After an 18-month wait, Charlo dismantled Bundrage and captured the IBF light middleweight title with a dominating third-round knockout win. Bundrage was knocked down once in rounds 1 and 2 and twice in round 3. An overhand right put Bundrage down in round 1. Charlo never allowed Bundrage to get into the fight, constantly applying pressure. The second knockdown, which occurred in round 2 was from a left jab. Fast combinations to the head dropped Bundrage early in round 3 and a couple of minutes later, a final blow to the head. The referee did attempt to make a count and stopped the fight at 2 minutes and 33 seconds. After the fight, Bundrage said, "I hand't fought in, you can't be inactive fighting these young guys."

Charlo vs. Campfort

A few weeks after winning the title, Charlo's trainer Ronnie Shields confirmed that Charlo would make his first defence against veteran Wilky Campfort on November 28, 2015 at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. Campfort's sole loss on his record came in his second professional fight via majority decision after 4 rounds. Shield's, who had been training both the twins, recently confirmed he would no longer be working with Jermell. He stated it was on good terms and it would not affect how Jermall would perform. Charlo floored Campfort in round 2 with a counter right hand. He recorded a second knockdown the following round after a flurry in the corner forced Campfort to take a voluntary knee. Towards the end of round 3 Charlo hit a perfect left uppercut clean to his left eye of Campfort's, compromising his vision was instantly to take a knee again. Despite beating the count, Campfort complained that he was unable to see, causing referee Mark Calo-Oy to wave off the fight. Over the 4 rounds, Charlo out landed Campfort 62-11, connecting on 30% of his power shots. After the bout, Charlo confirmed he would stay at light middleweight and continue to defend his title, however he wanted big fights. He also praised his jab, calling it the best in the business.

Charlo vs. Trout

On March 29, 2016, it was announced that Charlo would make a defence against former world champion Austin Trout at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 21. The card also included top light middleweights Erislandy Lara, Vanes Martirosyan and his brother Jermell. In a close contested bout, Charlo defeated Trout by a 12-round unanimous decision. The judges' scored the fight 115-113, 116-112, 116-112. Charlo landed the harder shots to dominate the action in the first six rounds. However, Charlo seemed to gas out a little in the second half of the fight, and was outworked by Trout. Trout suffered a cut over his right eye in the 10th round from a clash of heads but fought well despite suffering the cut. The crowd booed loudly when the scores were read out to let the judges know that they felt Trout should have won. Charlo landed 130 of 474 punches thrown and Trout landed 117 of his 490 thrown. Trout received a purse of $300,000 and Charlo earned a purse of $500,000.

Charlo vs. Williams

Charlo's next title defense was set to be against the No. 1 contender Julian Williams on December 10, 2016 at the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. The fight was pushed back as Charlo was nursing an eye injury and was given a 60-day medical extension by IBF. There were also rumours that Charlo would vacate the title to move up to middleweight. Charlo retained his IBF junior middleweight title with a fifth round stoppage of Williams. Charlo dropped Williams in the second round with a powerful jab. Williams came back and fought a clever fight, making Charlo miss, slipping punches, landing some good counters. In round 5, Charlo landed a right uppercut, dropping Williams hard. Williams got up, however Charlo went for the finish, and got it with a third knockdown after a barrage of punches ending with a left hook. After the referee stopped the fight, Williams went over to congratulate Charlo. Charlo didn't want to embrace and told Williams,"I don't want your congratulations, I want your apology." The crowd noticing the heat between the two corners started to boo Charlo. In the post fight interview, Charlo stated Williams had disrespected him leading up to the fight, he also called out Canelo and Golovkin, stating he would move up to middleweight. The fight aired on Showtime and averaged 321,000 viewers, peaking at 370,000 viewers.

Middleweight

Charlo officially vacated his IBF light middleweight title on February 16, 2017 in order to move up to middleweight. Charlo had wanted to unify the light middleweight division, but there were no titlists available. At the time, twin Jermell, who Jermall had vowed not to fight, held the WBC title. He also stated after the Williams fight that he had been struggling to make weight. Charlo told ESPN, "It was either going to be a big fight for me at 154 pounds, like against Miguel Cotto or Canelo Alvarez, something big like that, or move up," On March 11, WBC ranked Charlo number 2 ahead of David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens, who were ranked number 3 and 4 respectively. The IBF gave Charlo a number 3 ranking. In March 2017, it was reported by ESPN Deportes that an announcement would be made for Charlo to fight WBC number 1 ranked, Argentinian boxer Jorge Sebastian Heiland in a final eliminator.

Charlo vs. Heiland

On June 5, 2017 reports circulated around Argentina that WBC mandatory challenger Jorge Sebastian Heiland would be ordered to fight Charlo in a final eliminator. Heiland had been the mandatory since 2015. Early talks indicated the fight could take place on the undercard of the Mikey Garcia vs. Adrien Broner undercard. On June 9, the WBC officially ordered the fight between the two, with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger for the winner of Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin, which would take place in September 2017. The fight was officially announced on June 27. Charlo weighed in a career high 159.2 pounds while Heiland came in slightly lighter at 158.2 pounds.
Charlo became the mandatory challenger for the WBC middleweight title, with a stoppage win over an injured Heiland in round 4. At the start of the fight, it was clear that Heiland's left leg was injured. Charlo first dropped Heiland in round 2 with a left to the head. In round 4, Charlo landed another left hook to the head which dropped Heiland again. Heiland beat the count, but as he was getting up, he stumbled around due to the injury. Referee Benji Esteves stopped the fight immediately at 2:13 of the fourth round to ensure Heiland took no more punishment. Charlo spoke to Showtime's Jim Gray in the post fight interview, "Sometimes the injury can be a decoy. You never want to just jump in and think it's part of his game plan. My coach told me to stay behind my job like I did, continue to work and it's gonna come." The ringside doctor checked Heiland's leg before the fourth round but let the action continue. Heiland stated that his leg was okay before the fight and the injury occurred in the opening round. Charlo earned $350,000 compared to Heiland who had $200,000 purse. The fight drew an average 500,000 viewers and peaked at 542,000 viewers on Showtime.

Charlo vs. Centeno

On November 21, 2017 the WBC announced that Charlo would have the opportunity to claim the Interim WBC middleweight title against Hugo Centeno. WBC President Maurcio Sulaiman explained the reason for this being due to the full WBC title being tied up in a potential rematch between Golovkin and Álvarez. A possible date in January 2018 was being discussed at the time. Due to negotiations not being made, on January 2, 2018 Sulaiman ordered the fight and confirmed it would be sanctioned by the WBC for the interim championship. On January 23, the fight was made official to take place on the undercard of Deontay Wilder's WBC heavyweight title defence against Luis Ortiz on March 3 at the Barclays Center. On February 23, the fight was postponed after Centeno injured his ribs in training. The fight was quickly rescheduled to take place on April 21 on the Adrien Broner vs. Jessie Vargas undercard. On fight night, in front of 13,964 in attendance, Charlo won the vacant WBC interim middleweight title after knocking out Centeno in round 2. The knockdown came when Charlo landed a left hook to the head followed by a right hand to Centeno. The fight was promptly halted by referee Steve Willis. The official time was at 0:55 of round 2. Charlo spend the first round stalking Centeno, who was reluctant to exchange. After the fight, Charlo said, "I'm a two-time world champion. Bring on Triple G! I want that fight! The networks and the teams can figure out how to get the Triple G fight done. I have the best manager in the world. I'm 27-0 with 21 knockouts. Everybody sees it. What more can I say?" CompuBox Stats showed that Charlo landed 12 of 35 punches thrown and Centeno landed 10 of his 31 thrown. Charlo earned $500,000 to Centeno's $235,000 purse.

Charlo vs. Korobov

In October 2018, Premier Boxing Champions announced a doubleheader for December 22, 2018 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The card, which would be televised by FOX, would feature Jermell Charlo defending his WBC light middleweight title against Tony Harrison and Jermall Charlo defending his WBC interim middleweight title against former world title challenger Willie Monroe Jr.. The twins flipped a coin to see who would close the show. The official press conference took place on October 25. On December 15, a week before the fight, it was reported that the WBC had been alerted of an adverse finding in Monroe's pre-fight drug test. It was reported that Russian boxer Matt Korobov, who was scheduled to fight on the untelevised undercard against Juan DeAngel, stepped up to the challenge. Koborov, usually fighting at the light heavyweight limit, was dropping down to super middleweight to fight DeAngel, and now had six days to come down to 160 pounds from super middleweight. The WBC issued a statement confirmed Monroe would not be able to challenge Charlo for the title. They also confirmed the adverse finding was a banned steroidal substance. According to the sample collector, Monroe disclosed that he had used a non-specific “testosterone booster”, as written in the Doping Control Form, however did not request a 'therapeutic Use Exception' for the substance. Charlo vs. Korobov was confirmed on December 17. Korobov had only two pounds to lose as it was revealed the contracted weight limit for his fight against DeAngel was 162 pounds.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
31 Sergiy Derevyanchenko– Sep 26, 2020 Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, U.S.Defending WBC middleweight title
30Win30–0 Dennis HoganTKO7, 0:28Dec 7, 2019 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.Retained WBC middleweight title
29Win29–0 Brandon AdamsUD12Jun 29, 2019 NRG Arena, Houston, Texas, U.S.Retained WBC middleweight title
28Win28–0 Matt KorobovUD12Dec 22, 2018 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.Retained WBC interim middleweight title
27Win27–0 Hugo Centeno Jr.KO2, 0:55Apr 21, 2018 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.Won vacant WBC interim middleweight title
26Win26–0 Jorge Sebastian HeilandTKO4, 2:13Jul 29, 2017 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.
25Win25–0 Julian WilliamsKO5, 2:06Dec 10, 2016 Galen Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.Retained IBF junior middleweight title
24Win24–0 Austin TroutUD12May 21, 2016 The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Retained IBF junior middleweight title
23Win23–0 Wilky CampfortTKO4, 1:16Nov 28, 2015 The Bomb Factory, Dallas, Texas, U.S.Retained IBF junior middleweight title
22Win22–0 Cornelius BundrageKO3, 2:33Sep 12, 2015 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S.Won IBF junior middleweight title
21Win21–0 Michael FinneyUD10Mar 28, 2015 Pearl Concert Theater, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
20Win20–0 Lenny BottaiKO3, 0:38Dec 13, 2014 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
19Win19–0 Norberto GonzalezTKO7, 1:23Sep 11, 2014 The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
18Win18–0 Hector MunozRTD4 3:00Apr 26, 2014 StubHub Center, Carson, California, U.S.
17Win17–0 Joseph De los SantosKO5, 0:29Dec 13, 2013 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
16Win16–0 Rogelio De la TorreTKO7, 1:50Sep 12, 2013 MGM Grand Premier Ballroom, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
15Win15–0 Antwone SmithKO2, 2:23Aug 9, 2013 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
14Win14–0 Luis HernandezTKO2, 2:26Jun 1, 2013 BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida, U.S.
13Win13–0 Orlando LoraRTD4, 3:00Apr 20, 2013 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
12Win12–0 Gilbert VenegasKO3, 1:24Mar 2, 2013 Our Lady of the Lake University Gym, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
11Win11–0 Josh WilliamsRTD5 3:00Jan 26, 2013 The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
10Win10–0 Edgar PerezRTD4 3:00Dec 8, 2012 Business Expo Center, Anaheim, California, U.S.
9Win9–0 Sean Rawley WilsonTKO5, 2:21Mar 24, 2012 Reliant Arena, Houston, Texas, U.S.
8Win8–0 Eric Draper1, 1:32Sep 23, 2011 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
7Win7–0 Deon Nash2, 0:10Aug 28, 2010 Moody Gardens, Galveston, Texas, U.S.
6Win6–0 Carlos GarciaUD4Oct 24, 2009 Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico
5Win5–0 Deon NashUD6Jul 11, 2009 San Miguel Arena, Houston, Texas, U.S.
4Win4–0 Terrell DavisTKO2, 2:07Jun 6, 2009 Convention Center, Washington, D.C., U.S.
3Win3–0 Anthony BowmanUD4Apr 25, 2009 Fitzgeralds Casino and Hotel, Tunica Resorts, Mississippi, U.S.
2Win2–0 Mario Hernandez4Oct 10, 2008 Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
1Win1–0 Cimarron Davis2, 0:47Aug 12, 2008 Quick Trip Ballpark, Grand Prairie, Texas, U.S.